The latest version of Opera contains changes meant to mitigate the Spectre and Meltdown CPU vulnerabilities. Effectively, it’s now more difficult to exploit the vulnerabilities using Javascript running in Opera. Similar changes have already been made in the other major browsers.

Opera, the alternative web browser from Norway, adds several new features in version 50, which was released earlier in January.

Perhaps the most interesting new feature detects and blocks covert cryptocurrency mining, a newthreat that sneakily uses your computer’s resources to make money for the perpetrators.

Other changes in this release include:

Chromecast support

VR Player enhancements, including Oculus Rift support

new: save web pages as PDF files

improvements to the tab context menu

currency and unit converter improvements

better crash protection

enhancements to the built-in VPN service

You can peruse the Opera 50 change log for additional details. Keep in mind that the log shows all changes to Opera 50 from its origin as a developer release in September 2017, through its beta stages, to its official release in early 2018.

Version confusion aside, the changes listed for Opera 49.0.2725.56 appear to be minor bug fixes. Which is weird, because the new version announcement mainly talks about improvements to Opera’s built-in VPN (Virtual Private Network) feature. The updated VPN service is apparently faster and better; it’s also now hosted on Opera’s own servers instead of SurfEasy’s.

If you use Opera’s built-in VPN, version 49.0.2725.56 may be worth exploring. Otherwise it’s unlikely to be of much interest.

Opera’s developers have added a screen shot feature to the browser, apparently in response to similar features being added to other browsers recently. I still don’t understand the point, especially since the feature can’t be used outside the context of the browser. You’re better off using a screen capture tool that works in any context.

There’s also a new Virtual Reality player, something that looks cool but likely isn’t particularly useful for most people.

Opera 49 includes numerous other enhancements, but most seem cosmetic in nature. The full change log has all the details. Note that the log includes changes made to Opera 49 while it was still only available as a ‘developer’ version.

An Opera release somehow got past my “infallible” system for not missing anything important. Back to the drawing board I guess.

The Opera users among you probably noticed the browser having trouble disengaging itself from the Windows taskbar lately. Opera 45.0.2552.812, released on May 15, finally fixes this annoying issue. A handful of other minor bugs are addressed in the new version. None of the fixes are related to security.

Though it’s not mentioned until close to the end of the page, a recent announcement on the Opera blog entitled ‘Opera is Reborn‘ is actually about a specific new version of the browser: 45.

Opera 45 includes numerous changes to the user interface, mostly related to aesthetics: colours, backgrounds, icons, and animation. The integrated ad-blocker now reloads pages automatically when ad blocking is switched on and off. Social messaging software (Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Telegram) is now integrated into the sidebar. Video performance is improved slightly on some hardware. And you’ll now see warnings below password and credit card fields on web sites that don’t support encryption.

Many of Opera 45’s changes come from the experimental browser Neon, which Opera released a few months ago to test some ideas and elicit user feedback.

You can peruse the full change log for more information. That log includes changes to development and pre-release versions as well.

Opera’s developers were quick to respond to the recent discovery that many of the major web browsers (including Firefox and Chrome) allow site addresses to be obfuscated using special Unicode characters. Opera 44.0.2510.1449 now shows any Unicode characters in the address bar using the corresponding two digit hexadecimal code, rather than the character itself. The obfuscation technique was being used in phishing schemes.

jrivett’s Tweets

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